BRATTLEBORO — Part Two of Brattleboro's “Theremin Experience” takes place on Nov. 16 and 17 at Epsilon Spires, 190 Main St.
Berlin-born Carolina Eyck dazzled the audience Nov. 1 with her grace and virtuosity on the theremin, an electronic musical instrument invented by Russian physicist and amateur cellist Leon Theremin in 1919.
As Eyck tells it, Theremin decided there had to be an easier way to make music, so he invented a touchless instrument, using electronic fields. It may be easier on the fingers, but there is no shortcut to brilliant technique.
Now, it's time for Dorit Chrysler and Charlie Hobbs of the NY Theremin Society to bring the Theremin Experience to a new level, with a concert and workshops for adventuresome children and adults.
Chrysler and Hobbs will appear in concert on Saturday, Nov. 16, at 7 p.m. Workshops are scheduled for Sunday, Nov. 17, starting at 11 a.m.
After a life at the edgy end of the music scene in her native Austria, and touring worldwide including to Brazil, Australia, Japan, China and Russia, Chrysler came to the U.S. to tour in 2000, discovering the theremin shortly thereafter.
In 2005, she and two colleagues co-founded the NY Theremin Society with performances and outreach to expose audiences to the sublime mysteries of theremin music-making, and to give classes to children and adults. She started the first school for children, the KidCoolThereminSchool.
Chrysler's musical style consists of electronic pop music and cinematic and experimental compositions. Her music has been used in TV, movies, and video art.
Hobbs is an artist, musician, teacher, and engineer living in Brooklyn, N.Y. His haunting and often humorous sculptural work ranges from robotic ghosts to collapsing spring-loaded ladders and inflatable breathing Doritos Bags.
He is the creator of the Hobbs Theremin - a contemporary professional-grade electronic musical instrument inspired by the distinct circuitry and unique sound of the original instruments from the 1920s.
Chrysler loves to teach in groups, and she and Hobbs will bring 10 theremins for the Brattleboro workshops.
She feels the theremin is an ideal instrument for joyful experimentation, saying “You invoke your own body to the full extent you can and also there's this mystery of not touching anything, which naturally feeds in the imagination. So it really just sparks your mind.”